Strawberry Snow
by Grave Bells
Summary: Jeremie and Aelita go for a walk in town at Christmas time. Jeremie shares with her his favorite little hideout. JxA fluffyness. Oneshot. R


**Strawberry Snow**

AN: I thought it was about time for another story. Please enjoy the Jerlita goodness!

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The window fogged gently as hot breath flowed over it's icy surface. A small ring of fog encircled a warm face pressed against a window display, a curious, yet delighted expression staring at the beauties inside the store. Gloved hands were pressed next to the curious face, the insulation keeping the glass from fogging from the heat of the girl's hands. A soft, fluffy pink winter coat hugged each and every one of the teen's features perfectly, the collar covered by a thick scarf. Warm, wintery pants of a darker shade kept her legs warm and tucked into her matching snow boots. One foot was crossed behind the other as she stared longingly into the shop, the curious look never leaving her face.

"C'mon Aelita; there's still more to see."

The pink-haired girl pulled her face back from the glass, ignoring the smear of grease left on the pane from her forehead and nose. A bright smile crossed her cold, flushed face at the sight of her bundled up best friend.

"Jeremie, can we go in here?"

The blue-clad teen blinked curiously as he turned to look inside, a small puff of hot breath floating out of his slightly parted lips before disappearing just over his beanie. A small smile lit of his visage at the objects inside on the display shelves.

"Well, sure, why not?"

The light jingling of a bell and a feeling of warmth crossed over the two friends as they entered the shop, a light scent of peppermint and hot chocolate drifting into their noses. Aelita pulled her white-pink earmuffs from her ears and let them sit around her neck as she began to wander the aisles, her sparkling emerald eyes drinking in the shimmering wonders around her. Jeremie merely followed like an obedient puppy, a small content smile on his face and his gloved hands in his pockets. His gaze would wander Aelita's awed face every once in a while, the delighted grey-blue eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses reflecting out how much he loved just to watch her.

"Wow, Jeremie… Look at this..!" Aelita breathed, tenderly picking a very elaborate, beautiful glass-blown trinket from the shelf in front of her. The shop was full of pretty little blown-glass and crystal keepsakes and trinkets, as well as a nice assortment of china and clay boxes, trinkets, and figurines. Just one gave and the beauties inside the store walls told Aelita that this will be her favorite store.

"That's very pretty," Jeremie responded coolly, pulling a hand from his pocket to run his fingers over the shade of the glass. "The green glass on it reminds me of you."

Aelita giggled gently, turning her head to smile up at her friend sweetly. She loved that he went through a growth spurt when XANA had been shut down; she'd always hoped to find a charming guy who was taller than her. "You're too sweet, Jer."

As the female set the statue-like glass back on the shelf and turned to continue, said teen found his face flushing a nice, soft red. He scratched his neck a moment, almost out of habit, then hurried after the beacon of pink halfway down the other side of the aisle.

"What about this one?" Jeremie held out a nicely sized glass figurine of two doves, one of which's neck was bent over the other's. A small assortment of pink-colored glass flowers peppered the mirror 'stand' it was connected to, making the scene look rather peaceful. The two had been wandering the store for sometime, Aelita pointing out a plethora of pretty little trinkets. Jeremie had been waiting to find just the perfect one.

"Oh, that's so adorable!" Aelita gasped, gently taking it from his outstretched hands. "They look so happy together!"

The blonde smiled happily, warmly, down at the girl as she began to babble off about it, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching the two as they made their way around the store.

"Try to keep one eye on them at all times... Don't leave out any attractive details," a small murmur sound sounded from the elder woman behind the counter to the younger man. "Pencils only.."

"Oh, look! It's a strawberry!" Aelita giggled, plucking a small glass strawberry from a display shelf. "Aren't strawberries your favorite fruit, Jeremie?"

"Yeah," Jeremie responded plainly, taking the glass from her fingers to examine it. "That's pretty neat."

His eyes scanned the fruit population on the shelf as the strawberry clacked on the glass when he set it down. A gentle smile grew on his visage as he grabbed a small pineapple from behind a large coconut. "Hey, they have a pineapple too!"

"That's awesome! They have my favorite fruit, too!" Aelita chimed happily, yanking the figure from his gloved hand. "It looks so delicious!"

The two eventually managed to cover the entirety of the store, their eyes gazing at each and every product for sale. Aelita completely flipped over an elaborate porcelain and glass statue/figurine of a rather beautiful ballerina, and constantly dropped hints to Jeremie about how she wished she had enough money for it. He seemed to merely shrug them off, his gentle small never changing as he watched the girl longingly as they journeyed around the store. When everything had been seen, the two made their way to the door and exited.

Once they were on the sidewalk, Jeremie paused. His gaze darted around the few chattering people wandering the streets of town as his hand linked itself to the hand of a suddenly confused Aelita. When no one was paying attention to the two teens, he leaned over and put his lips to her ear.

"Close your eyes, and follow me."

Aelita quickly shoved her earmuffs back on her ears before Jeremie yanked her off the sidewalk and into the street. She tried to make it across the street with her eyes shut, but her snow boots nearly sent her to the snow when they got caught on the sidewalk's ledge.

"Jeremie, I need to see!" she pleaded, although leaving her eyes shut as her best friend helped her steady herself.

"No, it's fine Aelita, just trust me," he breathed to her, wary of the people around them on the street. "Let me be your eyes."

He gave the street a final glance before slipping down an alley, gently pulling Aelita behind him.

The two wound invisibly through a maze of fluffy, plowed white mounds. Buildings towered into the cold, grey winter sky and casted darkness upon those underneath. The bodies carefully squeezed around a couple standing in the middle of the narrow backstreet, the blonde teen giving them an almost curious, yet embarrassed look as they began to kiss rather passionately. He rubbed his forehead once with his freehand, tilting his head a bit to hide the blush on his face from any other possible passersby; he was hoping that if he WAS seen, they wouldn't realize he had suddenly thought about the girl he was leading behind him.

Jeremie slowed a bit before stopping completely. He furrowed his brows gently, glancing over the short wall of concrete blocking the rest of the street from pedestrians. Aelita tilted her head curiously, not being able to tell what was going on.

"Why'd we stop? Are we here?" she asked, holding her other hand out to feel around.

"No, hold on a moment," Jeremie said, releasing her hand. "Don't move."

Aelita stood idly on the plowed, but wet concrete, patiently awaiting orders from Jeremie. Said teen glanced around quickly, as if scanning for anyone who could get them in trouble. When the only people nearby were the two adults sucking face, he climbed up and over the barrier, his boots making a crunch as they landed on a light layer of snow and broken up asphalt. He leaned over the wall and grabbed onto Aelita's hands. Gently guiding her over with his voice and touch, Jeremie helped the temporarily blind pink-haired teen over the divider and onto the crunchy ground underneath his own feet. The two traveled a length of the broken ground, and then were forced to jump over another road barrier before being able to continue on.

"Jeremie, where are you taking me?" Aelita finally asked cheerfully, her lips pulling into a small grin as she was guided along.

"A special place," was the rather descriptive answer she received from her friend. He smirked a bit, pausing to walk around behind her. He let go of her hand, then placed his gloved ones over her eyes. "We're here."

He led her forward into the octagon shaped area, and waited idly. The girl could swear she heard some footsteps leaving just before Jeremie uncovered her eyes.

Aelita found herself breathless, her now wide eyes attempting to take in each and ever detail of the heavily decorated, hidden area. The place was small and cozy, with four streets leading into it from the main road. Four shops sat in-between each street, the outside decorations and lights covered in a layer of cold snow. Garlands and wreathes were strung from roof to roof, connecting each small building together. Lights and candles and ornaments were everywhere, glitter and glistening in their own lights. In the middle of the octagon, just in front of Jeremie and Aelita, was a tall evergreen covered in large colored, twinkling bulbs of light. Snow dusted it's surface, giving it an impossibly more Christmasy look. The hidden sun's light mixed with the light from the bulbs bounced around from ornament to ornament, candy cane to candy cane. Even the string of pure white, popped Blue Corn going up the tree seemed to wink at the wonderment in Aelita's eyes. A plethora of various gifts cluttered the large tree skirt underneath the evergreen. The area had not been touched by a snow plow, but the towering buildings around the small encasement had caught most of the snow anyway, leaving the ground only dusted in a light layer of the powdery ice.

"Jeremie…. This place…." Aelita breathed, whirling every which way to see everything.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jeremie asked, beaming with a kind of pride at making his best friend so full of amazement. "Not many people know how to get back here, either. I found it one Christmas after escaping some bullies who ruined the present I made for my teacher."

Aelita remained speechless, stepping forward towards the tree curiously. She smiled gleefully, plucking a candy cane from a lower branch. She turned her upper body towards Jeremie.

"May I have one?"

"Go ahead. The people here are really kind; they let everyone take them from the tree."

The female immediately unwrapped the peppermint candy and shoved the end of it between her lips, hooking a finger into the curve to keep a hold on it. She leaned back gently to gaze up towards the top of the tree, her eyes sparkling in delight.

"Do you like it?"

She shifted her gaze back to her best friend, who was now standing next to her with his fists in his jacket pockets. His gaze was up at the clouds.

"I love it!" Aelita chimed, pulling the candy from her mouth and throwing her arms around him. Jeremie stumbled a bit, his face and mind blanking at her sudden action. It only took a few seconds for his thoughts to come back, and he immediately put his arms around her back in a warm hug. When they pulled away, his cheeks were tinted with light pink, but whether it was from the cold or from the hug was impossible to tell.

"Look at all the presents, Jeremie….. Who are they all for?"

"I don't know. Why don't you look? There might be one in there for you." Jeremie smiled brightly, motioning down to the presents beneath them. He caught an excited sparkle on her face as she whirled from him and dropped to the snow, uncaringly setting her candy cane in the snow. He laughed a bit as she began ravaging through the presents, his gloved hands finding their way back to his pockets. It didn't take the pink-haired teen very long to stumble across a present that didn't have even a fleck of snow a top it's wrappings.

"Oh, look! This one… It has my name on it," she said, taking the package and standing up. She almost looked to be in disbelief. "I didn't actually think a present for me would be here…"

"Well, go ahead. Open it."

Aelita glanced down at the heavy box in her hands, her eyes staring at a roll of poster paper tied in the bow. She quirked a brow curiously, then looked up at Jeremie.

"Can we sit to open it?"

The roll of paper was set aside, and pink gloved fingers ripped at the shiny wrapping paper hiding it's contents. Underneath was a plain white box, the only thing on it was a small blue logo in the upper right corner of one of the outer walls. Aelita immediately recognized the logo as the one on the window of the crystal/glass shop they had just been in, and unconsciously gasped.

"Jeremie.. You-?" she began, but she fell silent at the warm smile on his face. She'd always loved his smile, and it had just told her everything.

"Open it."

An excited smile curled her visage as she turned back to the taped box. She used the dorm key dangling off her cell to slice through the box tape, and eagerly pulled the flaps open. As her fingers brushed across a mass of tissue and bubble wrap, her gaze immediately darted back to Jeremie for a moment. Upon finding his expression hadn't changed, she grabbed the mass and pulled it from the box. Her fingers found the tape holding the bubble wrap together.

"Oh-!" she gasped, staring down at the beautiful porcelain and glass ballerina now sitting in her lap in disbelief. "This is that--!! But, you--? It was so expensive, and--!"

"My Aunt and cousin run the store," the blonde immediately began to explain, unconsciously wrapping an arm around Aelita's shoulders as he leaned over to run a hand over the figurine. "Every Christmas I get something for free from them. My cousin delivered it here after we left the shop."

"Oh thank you so much!"

The female set the fragile object on the bench next to the discard box and flung her arms around Jeremie. He blinked gently, his cheeks flushing gently before he firmly returned the hug with a smile.

A snowflake gently caressed a pink mitten as he fluttered from the clouds.

Aelita pulled back just enough to lift her head to the sky.

"Oh, look! It's snowing!"

Jeremie's chest rumbled with a gentle laugh he couldn't help but emit. He released his best friend with one hand to hold it out and let the falling snowflakes dance on the material. The female bent back a bit in his grasp, letting her tongue loll out of her mouth to taste the frozen liquid. Her fingers gently squeezed Jeremie's padded shoulders when she felt his grip on her back loosen gently. After a moment she snapped her head back up, closing her mouth on the way. Her smile almost immediately faded look of confusion when she looked back at Jeremie.

Said boy was staring at her blankly, almost idly, soft puffs of steam erupting from his slightly parted lips as he breathed into the winter air. His blue-grey eyes gave off a glint Aelita had never seen up-close and personal before; she'd caught it a few times as they grew up together, but he had always turned or left before she could catch a good look at it. She'd once before seen a sort of fake version of it in a romance movie once, but… Something about it unnerved her, yet made her excited all the same. What did that glint, that tiny sparkle, mean?

"Jeremie?" she asked quietly, leaning forward a bit to get a closer look. "Are you ok?"

At her words, the teen nearly leap in the air, his face lurching farther away from hers. Aelita frowned gently when he looked away from her; the sparkle had faded when she spoke to him. The color of his face seemed to resemble the color on Aelita's boots; a dark, red-pink. He stared down at the snow landing next to his angled feet in front of the bench, the small frown on his face betraying his mental beating for staring.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing," he spluttered, removing his other arm from Aelita's back and let it fall in his lap. The other arm went to the back of his neck to scratch it out of nervous habit. Aelita giggled a bit as a snowflake tickled the male's nose upon landing and melting.

"Here. Let me get that for you," she said immediately, not wanting to lose the opportunity. She gently pushed Jeremie's flushed face towards her with her palm, giving him a sweet smile. His face attempted to become a darker shade of red as he stared up at her over the rims of his glasses. He had refused to lift his chin when she turned his head. Aelita used her other hand to wipe the bit of water off his nose, giggling gently when she felt him recoil a bit out of nervousness.

Jeremie opened his mouth to say something, but found all he could make were mindless gargles. He immediately shut his mouth, mentally bashing himself for the second time in 5 minutes for acting like a brainless idiot.

"You're so cute when you're speechless," Aelita chimed quietly, forcing Jeremie's chin up to be level with hers.

The blonde could feel every inch of his body stiffen in shock, his widening eyes staring blindly through Aelita's visage; it was so close he could feel the soft heat radiating from her tinted cheeks. He had felt the soft touch of her lips once, maybe twice before, but he found it was impossible to remember the incidents as his frozen body melted into the kiss. Aelita's hands had found their way to his jacket-padded biceps, the gentle movement causing Jeremie's eyelids to flutter closed. He unconsciously wrapped his arms warmly around her back, pulling her closer as he took in her taste and scent.

_Peppermint._

They pulled apart when air was necessary, the cold winter air burning their warm throats as they breathed. Aelita giggled a bit at the heat still radiating from the male's face, gently placing her forehead against his.

"You taste like the snow," she mumbled, the grin remaining on her face.

"Are you serious? I'm that plain?" Jeremie murmured in a joking response, leaving his eyes shut to try and keep himself in the moment. A small smirk appeared on his lips as he spoke.

"No," She spoke gently, emitting a small laugh, "The snow tasted like strawberries."

The two sat in their warm huddle on the bench for a while longer, letting the snow fall from the clouds and litter them and the gift with a powdery white winter. A small breeze unrolled the paper next to the figurine and displayed it's contents.

A beautiful, colored sketch of a blonde boy and the pink-haired girl. The girl held in her fingers a strawberry, and the boy, a pineapple.


End file.
